McCrory, during a press conference at the old House chambers at the State Capitol, said Martin’s appointment was in keeping with the long tradition of naming the most senior justice to lead the court. He called Martin a man of “integrity and humility.” The governor also thanked Parker for her service.

Martin has been endorsed by five other justices. Former N.C. Chief Justice Burley Mitchell said Monday that the governor’s appointment prevents seat jockeying on the state’s highest court.

Though the elections are non-partisan, there has been much outside money funneled to the state Supreme Court races since 2012 and keen interest in the political balance of the court.

The seven justices on the state Supreme Court play a powerful role in deciding what happens in issues of great public consequence.

They will be asked to rule on new election laws, educational policies and criminal justice matters of great weight.

Before the campaign filing period earlier this year, many expected Martin, a Republican, to have an unopposed campaign for the chief justice seat.

Lewis, an N.C. Central University law school alumna who has clerked for Democrat Dan Blue when he was speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, has campaigned as a Republican in the nonpartisan race, going from one end of the state to the other.

Though Lewis initially talked about running for the same N.C. Supreme Court seat as Cheri Beasley, a Democrat appointed to the court by former Gov. Bev Perdue, the Brunswick County judge pulled out of that race shortly before the close of the filing period.

Mike Robinson, a civil litigator in Winston-Salem and a Republican, had entered the race for the Beasley seat and Lewis made a surprise entry into the chief justice race, drawing rebukes from some Republicans.

With four of the seven seats on the ballot this year in a state where politics have become hyperpartisan, there have been accusations of gamesmanship in races that until recently had not seen a huge infusion of outside money.

Lewis, the senior resident Superior Court judge in Brunswick County, told Wilmington TV reporter Justin Smith in the spring that her last-minute decision to enter the race for the top seat on the state Supreme Court was influenced by “political gamesmanship.”

How Martin’s appointment to the Parker seat will play out through the closing months of the campaign is unclear.

In a campaign release earlier this month, Lewis touched on some of the issues, criticizing a move by Republican leaders to have Martin appointed to the seat before the election.